thanks to michael, jim, elise, and sam. that does it for this hour. i'm mike barnacle in for nicole wallace. and right now, our old pal starts -- yeah, chuck, you're there -- >> here's what i'm trying to figure out. you have a michael steele, i have a michael steele. how are we -- amazing coincidence. >> it's tv all day -- >> the magic of tv. thank you, mike. >> thank you. if it's tuesday, president trump is warning there will be violence if republicans lose the midterms. >> good evening, i'm chuck todd here in washington. welcome to "mtp daily."

the last primary election night before the midterms -- sorry, cynthia nixon. the president of the united states is fear mongering claiming there will be violence if the republicans lose the majority. no, you didn't hear that wrong. folks, we've said it before and we'll see it again -- in this environment, you can forget that old saying that all politics is local. because this midterm, all politics is national and then some. and this news is breaking as the first polls tonight close in less than two hours. in a pair of states that will be key battlegrounds not just in the 2018 midterms but also in the 2020 presidential election. tonight we're watching one race with the president totally up ending the field with his endorsement. and another we've got republican candidates who would probably -- one republican candidate who would probably be in jail if not for a presidential pardon. so what kind of support is he going to get tonight? then we've got the democrats, they are energized and angry. they want to win. but some of the base want to fight first, and another race tonight, we're watching a democratic field that is

scrambling to find its identity in the swingiest of presidential swing states as an established muster goes up against a pair of prague relatives. one of those progressives is backed by bernie sanders, and the other is a deep-pocketed billionaire. this isn't your average election night, and the president made sure of that again -- violently so. it's the punctuation mark at the end of a grueling season as we approach the end of the grueling election night of 2018. we think it will be in one night, though mississippi and north carolina would like to go into overtime. this at a moment that it feels as if the future of just the entire presidency, the country, the republican party, the democratic party, all of it is near an inflection point depending on what voters want. and the president is apparently trying to scare voters into wanting to support the gop. here's what the president said in a closed door meeting with evangelical leaders last night. this is according to recorded excerpts that we at nbc news have reviewed. the president warned that if the gop loses the midterms, quote, they will overturn everything

that we've done, and they'll do it quickly and violently. and violently, he repeated. there's violence, he said again. when you look at an teva and look at some -- antifa and look at some of these groups, these are violent people. we'll have more in a second. tonight r tonig tonight's pollen, political reporter covering the mid storms. michael steele, adviser to jeb bush and john boehner. yes, he was not on the 4:00. ruth marcus, msnbc columnist and editor at the "washington post." okay, ruth marcus. you know, every time i thought everything is going to go fairly normal and here we go. >> what is wrong with you, chuck? >> let me give you more of what the president said. the level of hatred, the level of anger is unbelievable, he said. to evangelicals. part of it is because of some of the things i've done for you, for me, for my family, but i've done them. this november 6th election is very much a referendum on not only me, it's a referendum on

your religion, it's a referendum on free speech, the first amendment. however you want to look at it, this sounds like a guy desperate to get his base out and nervous that his base is not going to come out. >> and nervous and with good reason. i think you put your finger on it. it's not just that all politics are national, it's that all politics are trump. this is the flip side of he alone can fix it. he needs to argue that without him all will be chaos. he told us the other day that if he weren't there, the stock market would collapse. if he were impeached and removed from office. while we would have vice president mike pence as president pence -- >> i've heard hedge fund guys say, actually, if pence is president, with the tax policies, the stock market might spike. >> no, chaos -- i don't think you've been listening to the president adequately. >> sorry. >> and now not just financial chaos but actual violent chaos. i guess it's one way to motivate

your base and also to tell them and the evangelical leaders that he effected changes in the law that have not been done. welcome to trump world. >> michael, you know where he's trafficking. he's trafficking in this part of the republican base, it's not fair to call it the republican base, although that's what it is now. >> true. trump voters. >> the trump voters. he's trafficking in their conspiracyies. antifa, issue in portland, oregon. i will grant you that. but this is not a giant issue. >> this reminds me of his reaction, initial reaction, to charlottesville. this desire to talk about violence on the left as somehow equal to or perhaps greater than violence on the right -- >> or to rationalize violence. >> right. >> i think he wants to rationalize violence. >> we alternate between saying all politics is local and all politics is national. republicans this year to be successful need to be hybrids. you need trump and the national message to energize the base

while college-educate women in suburbs who don't like trump have to like their local congressman or senator. >> that sounds like a mythical creature. >> a very -- it's difficult, but it's the way they're going to win. >> alexi? >> the president needs cultural flashpoints to win. i think the big question for republicans is whether or not he even cares about how republicans do after 2018 when he made the speech saying, oh, your vote in 2018 is not as important as it was in 2016. he's using -- >> good point. i forgot about that. >> using this whether it's the nfl protests, charlottesville, google today. anything that can be against him is against him. therefore, against his base. >> i feel like after that quote someone explained to him what 2019 looks like if house democrats have the majority. >> right -- >> looks bad for him. >> uh-huh. >> he's not just setting the stage for violence. he's setting the stage for the argument that he didn't have to make in 2016 which is that this election is rigged and we -- and

we shouldn't trust or accept the consequences of it. >> right. >> that's a dangerous argument. >> he's also keenly aware that if democrats take the house, they will move forward on articles of impeachment. so perhaps this is his worry coming out in different ways. >> what's been interestinga to watch the different strategies -- interesting is to watch the different strategies of those who tried to localize the race. adam punt unanymousl-- putnam. running against ron disantis -- >> ron loves playing with kids. >> build the wall. >> he loves stories. >> then mr. trump said, "you're fired." i love that part. >> he's teaching madison to talk. >> make america great again. >> okay. >> somebody call child protective services. >> the question, is what race is he running? you don't know what state if you don't know, florida governor. here's adam putnam. let me put the quote up. this guy's been running for governor. he'd be speaker of the house if he didn't leave. >> and he's a great guy, smart

guy, terrific public serve apt. >> yes, he -- servant. yes, he decided to do it the good old-fashioned way, work my way up. he said and how he's campaigning, "you need somebody who understands why jasper and jennings is before they're governor, varn rather than have ask a staffer." that's what this is all about. adam putnam, i don't think voters care where jasper and -- >> i think that the challenge that we're going to face is whether being the trumpiest candidate possible seems to be effective in gop primaries. how will these candidates fare in the general election? is there going to be -- can you get a trump level of support from trump voters without being trump? i don't think it's possible. on the other hand, democrats may give us opportunities to win by nominating attends -- >> i'm glad you asked. now i want to play martha mcsally answering a question about jeff flake. and it will -- she's in, this is today, in mesa, arizona, campaigning. and she's asked about -- replacing jeff flake, this is

martha mcsally, supposed fro frontrunner trying to walk the line of hugging trump and trying to be electable in a swing state in november. here's how she dodged the flake question. >> what do you think of jeff flake as a representative of this state? >> today is about the next senator for this state. so you guys can make the comparisons. i just ask people to look at my record. i'm someone who's always been my own person. i've always walked to the beat of my own drum. i've been serving our country the entire adult life. >> has he served the state well? >> you guys can sort this out. >> i've been watching her from day one. she's been always nervous, watching our pile there, wondering when is trump going to officially endorse him, doing everything to prevent the endorsement. and she did a good job. she prevented the endorsement. she's going to get this primary. how's she doing? >> that is -- i not that's what's ultimately going to hurt her come november. >> that answer will hurt her? >> i've heard from democrats

that they're planning to release ads not only highlighting the attacks, but showing she's flip-flopping, pivoting, disingenuous, won't say whether or not she voted for trump. if you love trump and want to drain the swamp and get rid of establishment candidates, where does mcsally stand? she's doing what she thinks is politically savvy, and that is increasingly difficult for republicans who have to be the most like trump but also like we said have to be moderate to win this swing state. >> she's keeping the party together. and she's going to win the primary today, in the general election when we are watching the memorial to john mccain, an american aviator and war hero, you will see pictures of martha mcsally, an american aviator, and combat pilot -- >> no doubt -- >> up against a democratic candidate who is protesting against the war in a pink tutu -- >> i've seen this patriot versus -- i get what they're trying to set up here. >> it will work. >> it worked in '88 for george h.w. bush. in this environment we'll find

out. ruth, the democrats, we're seeing i think a preview of what the 2020 democratic primary might look like. you have stier and soros and gillum running hard. here's excerpts of the ads -- [ bell ] >> more than 100 times phillip levine has taken on donald trump. >> the donald trump presidency shouldn't even make it to 2018. donald trump should be impeached now. >> we have a president that could not be more ill suited to be president of the united states. >> i want to remind everybody watching, this is a campaign for governor of florida. >> if you're not talking about trump, who's listening? >> i guess donald trump might pay property taxes in florida -- >> should -- >> we hope they're paying bills in the state of florida, in doral, mar-a-lago. other than that, there is no other part of trump world that

governor graham, gillum, or levine -- >> said earlier, all politics is trump. there it is. >> also supported by tom stier, what's he pushing for? impeaching the president. you're probably having talking points in your ear at some point. >> it has been interesting to watch gwen graham not try to take the left debate too much. she's walked the line, watched everyoutflank her to the -- everyoutflank h everybody outflank her to the left. and you can hear her dad in her ear, don't do it don't do it. >> and that's the microcosm facing the democratic party not just in florida but elsewhere and in the run-up to 2020. >> what does the base want? >> hang him high, impeach him. so you're governor, why can't you impeach him anyway? >> michael steel, what happened to your party when your leaders in 2010 wouldn't give your base voters what they wanted? >> they were somewhat disappointed. >> how many speakers did you go through? >> two. >> and trump -- >> no, look, this is the base of

the democratic party -- this is why i have smart people saying police question manage the caucus, they're -- policy can manage the caucus, they're doing it like the war powers act, like de-funding the iraq war. smart people i respect make the argument. no, not in 2018, not in 2019. if the democrats win the majority in the house of representatives, impeachment starts pretty much immediately. >> i don't know if i agree with that. >> i -- i wonder this, and al i alexi, i've been thinking about this, i saw the story in the "times" that said the base wants impeachment and the leader don't. i have jerrold nadler here, tiptoeing, dancing, done want to get into the impeachment conversation at all. you're like, okay, but i saw another party not listen to their base. >> right. i mean, we know that democratic leadership knows it is not politically wise to talk about impeaching -- >> no, no, that's the assumption they made. >> certainly. >> like the right -- >> always i think all the polls

i have seen have shown not even a majority of americans supporting impeachment. so polls are polls. you can say what you want. i sort of think that this democratic socialist far-left movement is real, but i don't know how strong it actually is. i also think we have seen across the country more moderate democrats getting elected more frequently than our revolution, bernie sanders-backed candidates. that matters when they take the majority if they do, especially if it's a narrow margin. >> if gillum lose, bernie sanders, the one place they want is the one candidate he forgot to endorse, the one woman who ran in the omaha seat. he didn't endorse her. the best victory -- >> that race chshifted to republicans after they won because it's not a very good district. >> there are things if the democratic leadership in the majority can throw to the base, a lot of oversight, a lot of investigation, a lot of subpoenas, a lot of -- >> axios printed entire -- >> exactly, the whole list -- >> the phone book of lists of

investigations. >> the list of lists. >> that could keep them happy for quite a while. >> the tax returns alone people would be happy about. let's start there. >> you're not going to get away with weak tea. you're not going to get away with diet coke. >> you tried all of these -- >> the fire water. >> what happens -- >> won the fire water -- >> the fake repeal votes, how do they work? >> you're not going to get any satisfaction from anything short of donald trump in the stockade. >> your base realized that when you voted to repeal obamacare, that it didn't happen, right? >> they realized -- yes -- >> there's a difference between phony repeal of obamacare that you know is going to go nowhere and which is, by the way, where impeachment would go unless something dramatic happens in the senate, and real oversight which could not do more than placate people, could actually have an impact. >> look, i think -- i think -- watching elected leaders in washington think that they can tell the base, no, no, don't worry. i saw this movie. and it didn't -- it's not working with the dccc in primaries -- >> we're living the movie.

the sequel. >> yeah. >> all right. i got to move on. you have to stick around. next, paul manafort gears up for his second trial after a plea deal reportedly falls through. we'll look at the president's new round of legal exposure. ega. a steak. luckily for him, he uses super poligrip. it helps give him 65% more chewing power. leaving brad to dig in and enjoy. super poligrip. that's confident.

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welcome back. we learned today that paul manafort will be waiting an extra week for the second federal trial to begin. the judge delayed opening statement a week to allow the former trump campaign chairman's legal team to sort through more than 1,000 pieces of evidence prosecutors plan to introduce in the trial. he's got the same legal team from the previous trial. they're a little overworked.

not exactly a summer vacation. the "wall street journal" reported yesterday that paul manafort was seeking a deal with prosecutors ahead of his second trial, a deal that was obviously never reached. it was a partial deal perhaps. we'll get into it. but that trial, the second manafort trial, as well as special counsel robert mueller's ongoing overall investigation, aren't the only potential legal issues plaguing president trump now. the ongoing investigations in the southern district of new york, which not only secured a getty plea from former trump lawyer michael cohen but also offered immunity to the trump administration's longtime cfo alan weiselberg, and that's not all. "the new york times" reports the manhattan district attorney is weighing opening a criminal investigation into the trump organization. with me, former assistant u.s. attorney for the southern district of new york. i think that's where i want to begin is with the southern district of new york. i'll get to the manafort case in a second. where is this heading? they seem -- what's your best understanding of is the michael

cohen case essentially put to bed, now they're going to focus on x? what is x? it feels like fdny is focused on a new x, but it's not clear what that is. >> i think the x we know about is the campaign finance violations michael cohen pled guilty to, counts seven and eight. and you see the district circling this. this what we do when you see blood in the water. this is why you have the immunity grants. they're focusing on that and will exhaust the universe on. that presumably documents will go to that. to what extent is the president involved? it's conceivable he wasn't involved new york stock exchange his story and his attorney -- he wasn't involved in this. his story and his attorney's story is that he wasn't. that's why the direct witness testimony will be important. >> take me to the weiselberg immunity issue for a second. what -- obviously he was there to confirm certain things that michael cohen did and he -- he

was able to provide obviously some sort of important collaboration there. what more ok'd -- how wide -- i guess, how broad is the standard immunity agreement with somebody like weiselberg? is the assumption he's supposed to help with other parts of various cases? put it this way -- is robert mueller going to get his hands on weiselberg? >> he may. immunity obviously goes along with this, common with the extent of the testimony. the judgment has been made by the southern district we need this guy's testimony. we don't quite have enough to charge him or maybe his culpability isn't enough to make him take a plea. we'll give him this immunity essentially, a break. it's usually carefully negotiated. there's been reporting that the immunity for now extended for the first batch extended to cohen. but it's not like the southern district to just sort of set one hurdle, clear the hurdle and quit. the southern district usually likes to run things all the way into the ground. so if they need another round or if they need to expand the extent of the immunity with

weis weiselberg, pecker, with anybody, they can go to the department of justice and the judge and seek to expand that. >> let me go to the manafort situation and the supposed partial plea deal he was looking for. it sounded like he was looking to see if -- you tell me -- was he simply trying to get the tax charges like, look, can we plea to those, and we just narrow the scope of the second trial? is that -- if that was what his ask was, why do you think mueller said no? >> yeah, i wasn't that surprised to hear that there was some plea negotiations about the d.c. trial. you know, pleas like this happen when both sides have something to win and lose. the ball game is over with the convictions in virginia. that's going to be the base of manafort's sentence. even if he's convicted across the board in d.c., his exposure. go up but not immensely. if he's acquitted of everything in d.c., he still has to face the significant exposure in virginia. looking at it sort of practically from mueller's

position, you lock in a few more counts of conviction, you save the resources of having to go through trial again, and same for manafort. you -- you give yourself a little bit of additional exposure, but you avoid sort of getting whacked -- >> you don't assume that the deal is off the table? you think they could be talking? >> 100%. people talk plea up to the day of opening statements. i've had cases where we've gone so far as to choose a jury. i actually had a case that settled out after opening statements. a plea could happen at any time. it wouldn't surprise me if this comes back. the big question to me, the million-dollar question, is were they talking cooperation plea, or what we call a straight plea? and i don't think the answer -- i had a chance to ask that of the "wall street journal" reporter last night. and she said she didn't know that. that's a huge difference. >> if you're manafort, why would you do a cooperation plea if the president's dangling a pardon, right? >> exactly. >> okay. and i'm curious -- what does that do to mueller? right? manafort is coming, wanting to talk plea. but the president's dangling this pardon. we don't know -- that's sitting

out there. is that going to make mueller more stubborn? >> it may. i think mueller is going to -- i don't think mueller will do anything different because of the possibility of the pardon. manafort might. i agree, i think the president has signaled and sent up smoke signals and has been about as clear as he's going to be that he does ultimately to pardon manafort. there's the question of when. i believe if i had to bet, i would bet after midterms. if he does pardon manafort, there will be outrage and rightly so. but the reason we all, i think, would know would be to prevent manafort from cooperating. so if it were to get out that manafort was seriously considering that, that presumably would spur on the president to go ahead. >> and mueller has determined that manafort doesn't have anything, nothing you can get out of them? >> it's possible. could be that -- yeah it could be that mueller has decided that we don't trust manafort enough, he think he has too much baggage that we don't want to deal with,

we don't want to make a deal with him. that said, if i'm in mueller's position, i'd want to at least hear what he had to say. there's no downside to bringing him in for a proffer session, where manafort would tell us what he lohas. let's, evaluate -- i would be curious. it's a matter of principle, mueller decided, you took us to the mats on trial, you rolled the dice and lost, now it's too late. >> television likes to portray rivalries among u.s. attorneys, district attorneys, and state attorneys general. so let me ask you this -- if you were at the sdny and heard that the manhattan d.a. would open a criminal investigation, you know the state term wants a piece of this, too, do you find it helpful to have other investigative agencies involved on a state and local level or does it become interference? where are you on this? >> at the southern district, we like to big foot people and exert our power. i think it could be helpful but complicating. you know, here's the thing --

any information that the dany or the a.g.'s office develops can and should be shared with the southern district and perhaps with mueller in attorney. that's what good offers agencies do. develop information, share it with whatever office is in best position to put it out there. it complicates things. you don't want the same office -- two different offices or three different offices interviewing the same person. you don't want the same witness giving two different statements to two different offices. this is going to be a real test of how well law enforcement is able to collaborate and sort of take the most efficient approach here. >> it's just like when cnbc, nbc news, and msnbc try to book you. we should be talking to each other -- but in -- let me ask you this final question, if you are the president, what worries you the most? mueller, sdny, manhattan d.a., state attorney general? what's the investigation that you think -- none of them are good. what's the one that is the nightmare? >> he's got a lot -- his mind. to me the way i break it down is the southern district investigation has the highest probability of landing on the

president. i think if mueller lands it, that's going to be the biggest impact, the one that could have a lasting political impact, that could change some of the calculus that your prior panel was talking about are to impeachment. >> elie honig, appreciate your insight. talking about big footing, makes us bigger fans of billions. thank you. up ahead, president trump's assault on his attorney general. and what did senator lindsey graham mean when he talked about a major breach between jeff sessions and the president? ch b sessions and the president hey there people eligible for medicare.

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welcome back. i'm obsessed with how unfair president trump claims search engines and the media are to him. today the president tweeted, google search results for trump news shows only the viewing reporting of fake news media. in other words, they have it rigged for me and others so that almost all stories and news is bad. fake cnn is prominent. republican conservative and fair media is shut out. illegal? 96% of results on trump news are from national left-wing media, very dangerous. not sure where he got the percentage, a good point. the search engines are focusing on media sites that fail to report good trump news. this failure doesn't stop with you. google the cleveland browns, and all you get are stories about them losing. 32 times the past few years we've reported on games played by the browns and only once did

the media report good news that they won a game. every other time we reported on the browns, we reported them losing. that fair? gets worse -- for those of you old enough to remember the end of the vietnam war, google april of 1975. you'll see pngictures and stori of the communist north overrunning saigon. where are the stories of the south overrunning hanoi? a tip that never happened. yes, mr. president, we admit it. google is failing, and so are we. we failed to report -- you told us you eliminated forever the nuclear threat from north korea. that's done. just this weekend with the death of john mccain, we failed to report the following -- if you quickly raise the american flag at the white house, you must have lowered it at some point. right? we hear you, mr. president. if most of the stories about you and the media seem negative to you, there must be something wrong with us. got to be us. what other possible explanation could it be? uld it be? [ coughs ] ♪ ♪

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president's allies are giving him an assist in the ongoing war with the justice department. lindsey graham borrowed a page from the president's playbook with a krcryptic warning about attorney general jeff sessions. >> it's a deep breach. here's what i'm suggesting -- he's not the only man in the country that can be attorney general. >> this morning, you talked about some other major breach between president trump and attorney general sessions -- >> i don't want to talk about that now -- >> can you plane at all what you -- explain at all what you were alluding to? >> nope. >> later, senator graham did. later on the hill, he said that there is not some situation we don't know about and all he meant was that disagreements between president of the united states and sessions is piling up so the breach is wider. jeff sessions isn't the only justice department official in the cross hairs of house gop today. several house members returned early why their august recess to question career doj official

brews orr. they're scrutinizing orr over his relationship with the former british spy who authored the infamous dossier about president trump. we're back with the panel. alexi, michael, and ruth. alexi, first of all, this was an interesting hearing in that only republicans, the judiciary committee, questioned him. it was closed session. not a single democrat was there. i'll get into that in a minute. what i found interesting was that everybody who questioned him, including gates, including some of the president's biggest supporters and conspiracy-ists-in-chief, seemed to say he seemed to testify honestly. >> i think that's because this conspiracy is a little hard to keep up. the president is meeting with quinon supporters in the oval office and taking the conspiracy theory lifestyle to a different level than the republicans in congress are willing to go. the president is calling this a witch hunt over and over. that's hard to prove. i think that republican members

are realizing that when they ask people to testify -- >> i like the phrase "conspiracy theory lifestyle." >> that's the alex jones way of living. >> i think that the fact that no democrats showed up for the hearing may put a damp or your hopes for a -- damper on your hopes for a responsible discussion -- >> by the way, you guys got a preamble to this. it's my understanding, not a single democrat, including one that lives in the area -- the judiciary could be here to witness. if you think it's a kangaroo court happening -- >> hop on over. >> why don't you show up and -- apparently this isn't the first time. if you can't do oversight in the minority, how can we expect the democrats to do oversight in the minority, ruth? >> look, 90% of life is just showing up. 90% of oversight actually is showing up, as well. >> i think 100% of oversight. i think 100% of oversight. >> necessary but not sufficient just to show up. >> however, this bruce orr thing

is to me one of the craziest of the crazy. i can't follow the thread of what this terrible conspiracy thread is supposed to be. >> the times types got at the issue -- bear with me a minute. i guess the fbi had to sever ties officially with christopher steele. they found out that bruce orr had his own relationship with christopher steele as he was doing schwd doing russian mob stuff. and they wanted more from steele and couldn't do it, they followed protocol and debriefed a third party. we talked to the former fbi, and he said, yeah, that would be following protocol, and it's allowed the kimberly strossles to create new conspiracies -- >> so what? >> yes. >> this is part of the plot to stop trump from becoming president by never telling anyone he's under investigation. >> you don't buy the conspiracy? >> while screaming from the rooftops about hillary clinton's emails. i've never understood this basic point where if these guys were hellbent on stopping donald

trump from becoming president and one phone call to the "washington post" would have stopped donald trump -- presumably, given how close the election was, would have stopped donald trump from becoming president, why didn't they make the call? >> it's obviously a deep state and a deeply incompetent state. that's the only possible explanation -- >> what's scarey is that bruce orr may have been the country's most foremost expert on the russian mob. maybe now we know why his name is so public. >> that's a good point that i have seen made by many smart people including yourself today alone. the president's ultimate goal is to undermine bob mueller's entire investigation and any ultimate report that comes out, and i think what really matters when we're discussing this, yes, the conspiracy theory lifestyle is rick pldiculouridiculous. what's not ridiculous is the president creating this web with freak caucus guys to allow the hearings to happen. to allow a private citizen like bruce orr to come into these situations -- >> and muddying the waters of -- >> right -- >> and that's bad. that's a problem. we have to have faith in our criminal just system -- >> i got ask to ask, why is paul

ryan not in on this? history is not going to be kind to mark meadows, jim jordan, and -- and matt gates -- >> or to paul ryan. >> every republican member, every member of the house and senate, the same house democrats who didn't show up, have a responsibility to do the oversight. it is not the speaker's job to tell them not to do oversight. that he thinks they're wrong. when asked he's been clear about what he thinks is factual and what isn't. is not -- he's not -- >> he's taken his hands off -- >> it is not the job of the house speaker to determine the course by every chairman or member. >> the lindsey graham-jeff sessions, what do we make of it? ruth, where are you? >> lindsey graham without john mccain is not going to be a good sight. >> to the halls, that what you're saying? >> no, he were -- they were a good duo, but mccain was his kind of moral compass. >> are you saying lindsey graham is a-- mccain is art gar

functional? >> yeah, but the transition forms from from it would be for session and of course the president needs an attorney general that he's comfortable with is really pretty appalling. and the -- this notion that there is this deep breach and it's kept getting deeper, it's kept getting deeper for one single reason which is that the president has this grievance that is a totally illegitimate grievance because sessions had to recuse himself. and he can't let go of it, and it's just -- mushroomed and mushroomed. >> the senate majority monk, which is mitch mcconnell, i say monk because he takes a vow of silence on most issues, he issued a statement on jeff sessions that said, "i have total confidence in the attorney general. i think he ought to stay exactly where he is." that's important, michael. >> i think lindsey graham is who i love, i think he is trying to do what a lot of elected officials are trying to do. a lot of elected republicans are trying to do now -- is find a way to build a relationship with the president to get things done

for their constituents and the american, and deal with the president's reality distortion field. the fact that actual facts that those of us in the real world deal with are skewed in his mind, in his perception, but he's still president and you have to deal with his perceptions as president. >> good luck. i don't think the formula for the new coke is figured out. federal judges decide to draw new judges in north carolina maybe. the ruling that could make the 2018 midterms go on for an extra year. we'll be right back. k.rs. there's a lot of innovation that goes into making america's #1 shave. precision machinery and high-quality materials from around the world. nobody else even comes close. now starting at $7.99. gillette. the best a man can get. where people go to learn about their medicare options before they're on medicare. come on in. you're turning 65 soon? yep. and you're retiring at 67?

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kayak. search one and done. welcome back. in meet the midterms, it could get ready to have a crazy time in north carolina. and we don't know how crazy, which is part of the craziness. here's what's happening -- for the second time this year, federal judges ruled that north carolina's congressional districts are unconstitutional saying that republicans gerrymandered them with excessive partisanship. the case is almost certainly headed to the supreme court. that's where the craziness begins. they could vote to pause the whole thing. and november elections could go on as planned. if that doesn't happen because there could be a 4-4 tie on the supreme court it gets even crazier. then someone needs to draw a new congressional map, they've already thought maybe a special master will do that. judges then will have to decide where to hold -- whether to hold the members' congressional elections without primaries or hold primaries on election day. they that in texas once, and

then push the general election as a runoff either in december or january. what do i mean about craziness? well, parties to the case have until the end of the month to file briefs on what should happen next. we may not know who represents north carolina in congress any time near election day. it could be a few months before north carolina has a delegation. more after this. more after this. hey allergy muddlers. are you one sneeze away from being voted out of the carpool? try zyrtec®. it's starts working hard at hour one.

and works twice as hard when you take it again the next day. stick with zyrtec® and muddle no more®. that's confident. but it's not kayak confident. kayak searches hundreds of travel and airline sites to find the best flight for me. so i'm more than confident. how's your family? kayak. search one and done. ♪ as moms, we send our kids out into the world, full of hope. and we don't want something like meningitis b getting in their way. meningococcal group b disease, or meningitis b, is real. bexsero is a vaccine to help prevent meningitis b in 10-25 year olds. even if meningitis b is uncommon, that's not a chance we're willing to take. meningitis b is different from the meningitis most teens were probably vaccinated against when younger. we're getting the word out against meningitis b. our teens are getting bexsero. bexsero should not be given if you had a severe allergic reaction after a previous dose. most common side effects are pain, redness or hardness

at the injection site; muscle pain; fatigue; headache; nausea; and joint pain. bexsero may not protect all individuals. tell your healthcare professional if you're pregnant or if you have received any other meningitis b vaccines. ask your healthcare professional about the risks and benefits of bexsero and if vaccination with bexsero is right for your teen. moms, we can't wait. ♪ welcome back. time for "the lid." panel is back, alexi, michael, ruth. quickly, you're a north carolina native. how crazy -- first of all, this map, twice they've thrown it out. why can't they redraw it? >> let's let the people vote at this point. we need to end the court challenges, we need to just let people vote. and -- we have a great delegation in north carolina. i'm biased. i'm fond of every one of our elected representatives. >> what are you supposed to think, a north carolina native -- >> i love this guy. i love the state, and i love the delegation. >> here's what we -- >> pound for pound, the best

delegation in the house. >> we're reporters, every day news cycles, we want mississippi to decide the battle for the senate in an extended runoff, and the north carolina house races, decide who controls the house, decide election day exted the election day, keep it going. why not? there's a lot of crazy stuff that happened today. the president talking about violence. then there's the president in his odd relationship with mr. abe, the prime minister of japan. i think it's your wonderful newspaper, ruth that has this report about the relationship. apparently it's getting contentious over trade. at one point the president said i remember pearl harbor. >> he remembers the main too. >> throws it out there. japanese officials say abe waits if trump to make his point, he cat gorily denies with what the president says, it might hurt the president's pride. we're learning the president, even with his good relationships, like he has with

abe, has no understanding of how trade policy works. i mean, zero understanding which because every relationship with every american ally, even the good ones, are fraught over this issue. >> yes. and also no understanding of history because pearl harbor, he doesn't actually remember it. it happened before he was born. >> i think it technically did. >> yes, technically. >> that's right. he can't even remember it as a baby. >> technically. >> yeah, yeah. >> to ask for this president -- >> wasn't one of the germans invaded -- >> a task for this president to have, i was going to say, nuanced understanding of trade. but any understanding of trade is just ridiculous, he doesn't, he's never going to. and this just example 8,013 of that. >> what's interesting here is that world leaders are starting -- at least they have their own game plan as to how they think they can game the president. let him have his tirade, and then try to come in. >> right. well, that's exactly what it is, a game.

i mean, we'll remember months and months ago when he met with abe he talked about afterwards the big beautiful slices of cake they shared together, everything -- chocolate cake. everything is a performance, it's about the optics, being a strong man against other world leaders in ways they're now responding to. and i think that is why these trade policy decisions, or even his knowledge of them come secondary to the president because to him it's almost like a business dealing. it's dealing with people in a political way. >> or like a reality tv show, every day is a new episode and you don't need to worry about continuity or consistency. >> exactly. >> i want to go back to his lack of understanding of what a trade deficit means. he actually thinks we pay money to other countries. >> it's money we lose. >> yeah, this is the president of the united states supposedly conducting trade deals. >> and he has smart people around him. larry kudlow knows this stuff, mnuchin knows this stuff. >> you guys are reported on this more than anybody. plenty of people have tried to -- when you educate the

prosecute you have to do it without him knowing you're educating him. >> exactly. it's ego. don't bruise his ego, or never let him think you are assuming you know more than him, even if you do. when we talked about trump thinking he the fix things alone, he cannot do everything alone. that is exactly why you have people around you. he continues to reject them because he wants to take credit or insert himself into every situation possible. >> there's something going on here, once trump gets a fixed idea in his head it is very difficult to dislodge it. >> supposedly japanese have been ripping off america since the '80s. >> i was going to say, particularly on trade, this is just -- it is grooved in the crevices of his brain, and he is not going to change his position. if you had a thousand economists all day long trying to explain this to him. >> we're a long way from a new nafta or whatever's going on with mexico, whatever this

agreement is. however, michael, the fact that mexico capitulated, i'm sorry, based on all the ways the president humiliated this president is stunning to me. and what's the lesson this president's going to take away from that? >> that what he's doing works, that causing chaos works. i think the -- look, my understanding is the mexican officials were worried about what could happen depending on their own -- >> no, he scared them. >> and they chose to lock in this deal rather than wait and see what could happen after the election. >> is this going to have ramifications about other -- mexico caved. >> absolutely. they're trying to bully canada into doing the same thing. >> i have a feeling the deal's not that bad. my guess is canada's going to go along. but wow, the president's behavior is getting awarded here. up ahead, the venti, my frustrations. alright, i brought in new max protein

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well, in case you missed it, did you feel it outside? the crisp air. fall is here. sure, google says that started on september 22nd. it's another rigged result, fake search. do you know how i know fall is here besides the cool air? because as of today the pumpkin spice latte is back at starbucks. on august 28th, a week before labor day. you might be saying, chuck, it's still summer, it's over 90 degrees out, can't we just relax and enjoy the little of it we still have left? well, to quote john baynor --

>> hell knono, you can't. >> it's a brave new world, a world where everything comes earlier and earlier. you've got to be ready. stores are already selling halloween candy. we haven't even reached the midterms yet, but we're already talking about the 2020 presidential election. right? more so than 2018. take it from starbucks, you can never, ever be too early. that's why a pumpkin spice latte is in the red christmas cups, don't call it christmas. forget 2020. we should be talking about campaign 2060. cue the music, richard. here's the early look at the potential 2060 field, decision 2060. skyler is leading the pack at 37%. pandora is well within the margin of error, 34%. and we're keeping a close eye on that up and coming candidate on the right. he or she has built a serious grassroots campaign with zero

name recognition. at this point, mtp daily has officially listed this race as too far to call. be sure to stay with us. we'll have updates on the latest developments. may i remind you it's august 28th, you know, pumpkin spice season. ari melber starts right now. happy fall. i'm a big gingerbread latte person myself. the pumpkin's great too. fallout from the first ever leak, that paul manafort's open to a plea deal, and manafort's banker at his new york home burglarized last night. also new reports that trump ally devon nunez went all the way to london to undercut the dossier. and later, my exclusive with a former prosecutor who personally tangled with donald trump back in the day. >>